Global riders out of contract at the end of 2025
Mulubrhan, Carapaz, Soto Campos and Gibbons among riders without a confirmed team for next season
The 2025 season may just be getting going, but the wheels are already in motion ahead of 2026 as teams look to tie-down the best riders they can for next season.
Riders who are out of contract this year are planning their next moves too. Some will have things settling into place already, while others are working hard to attract contract offers.
The workings of the transfer market are particularly important for the globalisation of the sport. With so few riders in the WorldTour from Africa, Asia and parts of the Americas, these decisions can make a huge impact on how diverse the peloton will look in 2026 and beyond.
Below are some professional riders from lesser-represented cycling nations that are on the market ahead of next year.
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Richard Carapaz
Ecuador is still a relatively new force in professional cycling, but in Richard Carapaz, Jhonatan Narvaez and others, they have become a major feature in the sport.
The 2020 Olympic champion was a big gamble for EF when they signed him for the 2023 season. Team boss Jonathan Vaughters has said that he is far and away the most expensive rider they have ever had. He was quite forthright in saying that he wanted Carapaz to challenge the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard in the Grand Tours, but that hasn’t yet materialised. For this reason, it would make sense for the 31-year-old to move on. [Ed - Some reports state that Carapaz has one more year on his contract]
Carapaz’s compatriots Jefferson Alexander Cepeda and Harold Martin Lopez are also without confirmed teams for next year.
Louis Meintjes
Now 33, South African Meintjes is entering the latter stages of a successful career. He has ridden at professional level since 2013, most recently for Intermarché-Wanty, for whom he won a stage of the Vuelta a España in 2022.
The diminutive climber will need a good performance at the Giro d’Italia to ensure that he can continue his professional career into a 14th season.
Ryan Gibbons
A second long-standing South African is also out of contract at the end of the year. Lidl-Trek lead-out man Gibbons told Global Peloton last year that he would like to remain with the American team for the rest of his career.
He has had a tough few days after being publicly criticised by his team leader Mads Pedersen after the first stage of Paris-Nice. It seemed a slightly unfair way to treat a team-mate who has been loyal to the Dane for the past two seasons as his right hand man. Gibbons will hope the spat will not impact on contract negotiations.
Paula Patiño
The 27-year-old Movistar rider is possibly the best Colombian ever to race in the women’s professional peloton. Having been part of the UCI World Cycling Centre, Patiño as been part of the Movistar team since 2019 and has become one of their most reliable domestiques and also has the talent to have finished 8th at the 2020 Giro d’Italia Women. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see her extend with Movistar for another two years.
She’s one of only two Colombian women in the women’s WorldTour. Several of her male counterparts are also without 2026 contracts, including Nairo Quintana, Fernando Gaviria and Esteban Chaves.
Henok Mulubrhan
It’s no secret that XDS-Astana’s season is all about securing as many UCI points as possible to ensure that they stay in the WorldTour. So far, with his 3rd place at the Muscat Classic and 2nd in the Tour du Rwanda, Henok Mulubrhan is making a fair contribution to that goal.
Mulubrhan is a rider who is still improving, but most of his results come outside Europe. The 25-year-old needs to prove himself in bigger races if he is to take that next step. However, if things carry on as they are, heshould secure another pro contract with XDS-Astana or elsewhere.
Read more: The next Biniam Girmay - 6 Eritrean riders on the rise
Anton Kuzmin, Nicolas Vinokourov
The Kazakh-Chinese team’s winter spending spree meant a purge of most of their Kazakh riders. Seven were moved on or relegated to the development team to make way for UCI points scorers. Just three remain and two are out of contract this year.
28-year-old Kuzmin probably hasn’t done enough yet to prove himself at this level. However, Nicolas Vinokourov is improving, and it helps to have your dad as the boss.
It’s possible that the team will re-sign some of its former Kazakh talent should they drop down to ProTeam level.
Catalina Soto Campos
Chilean sprinter Catalina Soto Campos has had a solid start to the year. Now in her second year with Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi, and having taken on her first Tour de France Femmes last year, Soto Campos has already been in the top-10 three times, including sixth at the Vuelta CV.
A graduate of the UCI World Cycling Centre team, Soto Campos has lots of potential. It wouldn’t be surprising to see her move up to the WorldTour in 2026.
Hagos Welay
Ethiopian Hagos Welay is a massive talent. That’s why it was so pleasing to see Jayco-AlUla give him a three year contract back in 2023 to give him the time to develop and become familiar with racing and life in Europe. After 6th in the Tour of Austria and a debut Grand Tour in his first season, things looked good. However, Welay hasn’t really kicked on to be the force many think he can be.
It’s been a slow start to 2025, but the 23-year-old will now need to start bringing in the results to secure his future in the sport.
Sergio Tu
Tu is viewed as a sponsor signing, rather than racing in the WorldTour with Bahrain-Victorious on merit. In two-and-a-bit seasons with the team, he has only had four race days in Europe.
It’s likely that Tu will stay with the team as long as the current sponsorship deal remains, or he may be replaced by another Taiwanese rider (Tu replaced Chun Kai Feng in 2023).
Yuhi Todome
Young Japanese rider Yuhi Todome was the only Japanese survivor from the now-defunct EF-Nippo team. He was given a two-year contract with the WorldTour team after the development squad folded.
It’s fair to say that things haven’t quite worked out for the 22-year-old to this point. With no Japanese sponsor now linked to the American squad, it’s likely that Todome will need to find a new team for 2026 if results don’t improve.
Where do you think these riders will end up in 2026?
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